U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,963 discloses Substantially Linear Ethylene Polymers grafted with an organic acid, such as maleic acid or maleic anhydride. However these polymers are the result of a grafting reaction rather than the product of a copolymerization reaction between a terminally unsaturated macromonomer and an unsaturated acid or anhydride.
Copolymers of maleic anhydride and other olefins are known in the literature. For example copolymers of maleic anhydride and alpha-olefins have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,545. These copolymers are of rather low molecular weights, i.e. approximately C12-C18 with molecular weights of 250 or less. Copolymers of maleic anhydride and styrene are known, for example see U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,074 and European Patent Applications 0 214 786 and 0 296 714. Likewise copolymers of isobutylene and maleic anhydride are apparently disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,507. But this polymer is expected to have the disadvantage of little to no crystallinity, which would mean poor strength characteristics in a final adhesive.